Setup Kickstart Server in Linux ( RHEL/CENTOS)

Many system administrators would prefer to use
an automated installation method to install Red Hat Enterprise Linux on their
machines. To answer this need, Red Hat created the kickstart installation
method. Using kickstart, a system administrator can create a single file
containing the answers to all the questions that would normally be asked during
a typical installation.

Kickstart files can be kept on a single server
system and read by individual computers during the installation. This
installation method can support the use of a single kickstart file to install
Red Hat Enterprise Linux on multiple machines, making it ideal for network and
system administrators.

Kickstart provides a way for users to automate
a Red Hat Enterprise Linux installation.

All kickstart scriptlets and the log files of
their execution are stored in the/tmpdirectory to assist with debugging
installation failures.

How to perform a Kickstart Installation?

Kickstart installations can be performed using
a local DVD, a local hard drive, or via NFS, FTP, HTTP, or HTTPS.

To use kickstart, you must:

·Create a kickstart file.

·Create a boot media
with the kickstart file or make the kickstart file available on the network.

5.For each
"Release" and "ARCH" Copy vmlinuz and initrd.img from
/images/pxeboot/ directory on "disc 1" of that $Release/$ARCH to
/tftpboot/images/RHEL/$ARCH/$RELEASE

mkdir -p
/tftpboot/images/RHEL/i386/5.

mkdir -p
/tftpboot/images/RHEL/i386/5.8

mkdir -p
/tftpboot/images/RHEL/x86_64/5.1

mkdir -p
/tftpboot/images/RHEL/x86_64/5.8

6.For RHEL 5.8 x86_64, do
the following

mount /dev/cdrom /cdrom

cd /cdrom/images/pxeboot

cp vmlinuz initrd.img
/tftpboot/images/RHEL/x86_64/5.8

Do the above for all
releases and ARCH you want to kickstart from this server.

7.Add this to your
existing or new /etc/dhcpd.conf.

8.Note: xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx is
the IP address of your PXE server

allow booting;

allow bootp;

option option-128 code
128 = string;

option option-129 code
129 = text;

next-server
xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx;

filename
"/pxelinux.0";

9.Restart DHCP service

service dhcpd restart

10.Create Simple or Multilevel PIXIE menu. Create a
file called "default" in /tftpboot/pxelinux.cfg directory. A Sample
file named "isolinux.cfg" is found on the boot installation media in
"isolinux" directory. Copy this file as default and edit this file as
per requirement. A sample default file is given bellow.

11.Install the kickstart Configurator tool. This
tool will be helpful to create the kickstart configuration file.

yum install
system-config-kickstart

12.Create the kickstart config file. This file can
be created using kickstart Configuration Tool. A Sample file anaconda-ks.cfg
based on current installation of a system is placed in /root directory. We can
also use this /root/anaconda-ks-cfg as the configuration file. Copy this file
to the location specified in the default file. Make sure the directory is NFS
exported if you are using NFS for installing the OS.

13.Modify the kickstart configuration file as per
requirement. If you are using NFS for installation, Make sure to copy the ISO
images of Linux disks to any NFS server and NFS export the directory. This
server/directory details need to be specified in the jumpstart configuration
file.

14.After creating the KS configuration files and
copying the ISO images, the installation can be started.